Ray Takeyh

Hasib J. Sabbagh Senior Fellow for Middle East Studies

Browse My Work
Profile picture

The Last Shah

January 26, 2021
Cover for The Last Shah by Ray Takeyh; yellow-tinged image of a statue lying on the ground in front of buildings

Expert Bio

Ray Takeyh is Hasib J. Sabbagh senior fellow for Middle East studies at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). His areas of specialization are Iran, U.S. foreign policy, and the modern Middle East.

Takeyh is, most recently, the author of The Last Shah: America, Iran and the Fall of the Pahlavi Dynasty. He is the coauthor of The Pragmatic Superpower: Winning the Cold War in the Middle East and Revolution & Aftermath: Forging a New Strategy Toward Iran. He is author of three previous books, Guardians of the Revolution: Iran and the World in the Age of the Ayatollahs, Hidden Iran: Paradox and Power in the Islamic Republic, and The Origins of the Eisenhower Doctrine: The US, Britain and Nasser’s Egypt, 1952-1957. He has written more than three hundred articles and opinion pieces in many news outlets including Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and Foreign Affairs. Takeyh has testified more than twenty times before various Congressional committees.

Prior to joining CFR, he has served as a senior advisor on Iran at the State Department and was a fellow at the Yale University, The Washington Institute of Near East Policy, and the Middle East Center at University of California, Berkeley. Takeyh holds a doctorate in modern history from Oxford University.

affiliations

  • Editorial board, Survival: Global Politics and Strategy
  • Editorial board, Orbis: Journal of World Affairs

Media Inquiries

For media inquiries, please contact [email protected].
Clear All
Regions
Topics
Type

More CFR Experts

See all Experts

Explore More on Iran

Iran

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards
The IRGC is one of the most powerful organizations in Iran, conceived as the principal defender of the 1979 revolution, and now a critical link to Islamist militant groups violently opposed to Israel and the United States.

Backgrounder by CFR.org Editors November 12, 2024

Lebanon

What Is Hezbollah?
The Iran-backed Shiite militia was considered the most powerful non-state group in the Middle East, but an Israeli military campaign against Hezbollah in 2024 has considerably weakened it.

Backgrounder by CFR.org Editors October 29, 2024

Iran

The Islamic Republic’s Power Centers
Who calls the shots in Iran on economic policy, security, and domestic calls for reform? A look at the government’s organization chart indicates how complicated the answer is.

Article by CFR.org Editors June 26, 2024

Top Stories on CFR

United States

U.S. Postwar Immigration Policy
Immigration has been an important element of U.S. economic and cultural vitality since the country’s founding. This interactive timeline outlines the evolution of U.S. immigration policy after World War II.

Timeline by Brianna Lee and Diana Roy January 21, 2025 Renewing America

Donald Trump

Trump’s Executive Orders: What to Expect
President-elect Trump has promised to commence his new term with an expansive array of executive actions, some of which could have immediate effects on U.S. foreign policy.  

In Brief by Jonathan Masters and Diana Roy January 17, 2025

Foreign Policy

The Israel-Hamas Cease-Fire and its Implications
After the Israel-Hamas cease-fire announcement, Steven A. Cook, CFR’s Eni Enrico Mattei Senior Fellow for Middle East and Africa Studies, and I discuss its significance and implications.

Article by Michael Froman January 17, 2025